For all those travelling out with Distant Worlds

[Traveller_GG]

I'd like to pen a few words about people's reactions to Distant Worlds and the struggle some are having with the journey. I can see many posts about how hard they're finding it, how it's hard to find the time / motivation / dedication and so on...

There are a few of us who have been out further than here before and I for one *know* you've not seen the best yet, not really experienced what it means to be 10s of thousands of light years away from the bubble.

There's going to come a moment when you cross a threshold on this journey, you are going to suddenly feel the gulf; you do not feel it at SagA* or anywhere in the core. You really do not, it's just too busy. *That* feeling, that moment is when the journey will come alive; the moment it does and you look at the system map to see all the green icons all around you? That's going to be a very special moment.

I took multiple screen shots of the Galaxy when the gulf hit me because it is a genuinely profound moment, I'm slightly jealous of the ones who get to feel it for the first time; and you will.

Look: persevere.... keep going, keep heading out - the meeting at Beagle Point is going to be momentous but it's going to be shared. There will be an amazing and very personal moment that this game serves up for you, and you alone. Keep going and look for this moment, look at the Galaxy, look how far everything is and realise you did this. I genuinely felt the space around me; and I know the imagination of all the people who make it that far will as well.

Good luck everyone - keep looking out.

 

[EddyRockSteady]

*Tips hat to Traveller

~S~

 

[domaq]

+vREP as usual.
I did have a moment last night but it was one of realization instead of dread. All my other trips out this far felt isolating even though I never passed Sag A*. Now we're thousands of light years beyond the Core and it feels like we're still pottering around the Bubble. Why? Because of the interactions on Discord and among the Rock Rats. When I looked at the galmap last night and saw the usual criminals' green markers, it hit me how far from the Bubble we actually are. And yet, we've effectively brought civilization with us.
.
So when you do feel the weight of DW finally hit, if you're not participating in Discord chat (even listening) or don't have a travelling group, jump into one of the dedicated channels and learn the ropes. It will give you and additional sense of purpose and community that will help you through.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

Spoiler

I'd like to pen a few words about people's reactions to Distant Worlds and the struggle some are having with the journey. I can see many posts about how hard they're finding it, how it's hard to find the time / motivation / dedication and so on...

There are a few of us who have been out further than here before and I for one *know* you've not seen the best yet, not really experienced what it means to be 10s of thousands of light years away from the bubble.

There's going to come a moment when you cross a threshold on this journey, you are going to suddenly feel the gulf; you do not feel it at SagA* or anywhere in the core. You really do not, it's just too busy. *That* feeling, that moment is when the journey will come alive; the moment it does and you look at the system map to see all the green icons all around you? That's going to be a very special moment.

I took multiple screen shots of the Galaxy when the gulf hit me because it is a genuinely profound moment, I'm slightly jealous of the ones who get to feel it for the first time; and you will.

Look: persevere.... keep going, keep heading out - the meeting at Beagle Point is going to be momentous but it's going to be shared. There will be an amazing and very personal moment that this game serves up for you, and you alone. Keep going and look for this moment, look at the Galaxy, look how far everything is and realise you did this. I genuinely felt the space around me; and I know the imagination of all the people who make it that far will as well.

Good luck everyone - keep looking out.

Couldn't have said it better myself

I've said on a few occasions, not least in last weeks newsletter, that the sight-seeing tour is coming to an end on DW, and stages 4 and 5 will have a completely different vibe to them. I'll be blunt, they are not going to be fun for a lot of players and fleet attrition will be at its peak in the coming two or three weeks. These final two stages are about commitment and endurance more than anything, and when you consider we're only around halfway to our goal when we reach the Magnus nebula this weekend, it begins to dawn on us how vast this journey is.

But like you say, its also a profound moment for those that stick it out. There's 1.4 million people who play ED, and less than 100 have ventured out to Beagle Point - that right there puts things into perspective and should give an insight on what a unique challenge players have signed up for.

For me the most profound moment was getting across the Abyss and traveling along the outer galactic rim toward the then unknown Beagle Point, and the latter part of Distant Worlds has been structured to try and recapture that sense of remoteness in the void that a lot of us felt the first time we did it. For example, our last two waypoints - the Sublustris Beacon and Beagle Point - are a daunting 10,000 LYs apart - deliberately so, as any fleet members left by then will have a lone trek through 10,000 light years of the Solitude Void - something that should be done alone imho, just to give that sense of remoteness you can't really get anywhere else in the galaxy.

Its a tough trip, but those who make it to the bitter end will have achieved something very few have.

 

[Jon474]

Inspirational posts from both Traveller and Erimus. I cannot wait to sail on past SagA*...in my mind, past the point of no return.

Loving it
Jon
T-6E

 

[Whiterose]

[motivation off] just do it, forget about loved ones, forget about the bubble, forget about cashing in your finds, forget about your hull, you are now past Sag A* and you now belong to the void, your are ours and will do as the void wishes, and you will continue to the edge of the galaxy and spend the rest of your life wandering around aimlessly making honking noises like a faded sovereign, you are now legion. [motivation on]

 

[Jaiotu]

I really wish I hadn't been tied up with other things when the recruiting for Distant Worlds was underway. Any chance of a "Distant Worlds Stragglers Squadron" pulling up the rear to join you guys out there? Or any chances that you guys will use the planning infrastructure from DW to pull together another expedition (Formidine Rift?) in the near future? I'm one of the many jealous CMDRs sitting on the sidelines admiring the heck out of you guys from afar.

 

[Henkka77]

Im just waiting to get out of the core, really fed up with the ridiculous route planning.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

I really wish I hadn't been tied up with other things when the recruiting for Distant Worlds was underway. Any chance of a "Distant Worlds Stragglers Squadron" pulling up the rear to join you guys out there? Or any chances that you guys will use the planning infrastructure from DW to pull together another expedition (Formidine Rift?) in the near future? I'm one of the many jealous CMDRs sitting on the sidelines admiring the heck out of you guys from afar.

There already is a slower moving fleet following in the wake of the main one. Check out the FGE exploration wing. From stage 2 they have been traveling at a slower pace to allow more in depth exploration and players with less gametime to help keep up.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=214875

They're due at Sag-A* on March 5th.

And yes, DWE 3302 can be seen as a sort of blueprint for future expeditions. I'm sure trips like it out to other parts of the galaxy will be set up for large fleets, especially now the background infrastructure - like FleetCom etc, is in place and proving extremely popular with the explorers using it. I think the next DW expedition could be even better with multi-crew and passenger ships - giving access to the galactic depths for players who can hitch a ride aboard someone else's ships. If we can use small fighters to explore in and have access to other players SRVs in multi-crew, it will make these kinds of trips even more fun for more people.

 

[Traveller_GG]

Im just waiting to get out of the core, really fed up with the ridiculous route planning.

Think of it this way:

The bubble is the beach. Packed with people, making far too much noise but the bars and restaurants are all nearby
The core is the shallow water. Lots of things going on and still lots of noise

You're now stood on the shelf, where the shallow water ends and the snorkelers abound....
In front of you is the deep sea where there is real beauty and solitude and you need special equipment to get there.

It all changes now.

 

[Kuroshio]

Im just waiting to get out of the core, really fed up with the ridiculous route planning.

For reasons I cannot fathom, the route planner let me into the core without any problems, but it's having trouble letting me go. Supermassive black hole is clingy, I guess.

Traveller_GG: Beautiful piece, thank you. (Erimus as well.)

 

[domaq]

Think of it this way:

The bubble is the beach. Packed with people, making far too much noise but the bars and restaurants are all nearby
The core is the shallow water. Lots of things going on and still lots of noise

You're now stood on the shelf, where the shallow water ends and the snorkelers abound....
In front of you is the deep sea where there is real beauty and solitude and you need special equipment to get there.

It all changes now.

If you only hadn't used the deep water analogy (and if only I hadn't watched Jaws at a formable age). Think you're going to have to multi-crew me from here to BP now as the ship is afraid of sharks too.

 

[D4RK5T4R]

I have obtained footage that shows the reason for the SpaceX aborted launch:


[video=youtube_share;2o6XRuYxn-M]https://youtu.be/2o6XRuYxn-M[/video]

 

[shab00ka]

I've been excited about Distant Worlds since I first read the post announcing it. I knew it was something I would love, something that would make history, and something that I would be proud to be a part of.
What I didn't know, is how much this would affect me. Not only as a fleet member, not only as a gamer, but as a person.
I look forward to each and every waypoint; every jump is exciting to me. Seeing all of the commanders in the galaxy map, and then seeing a campfire of ships at every waypoint, it's enough to get me misty eyed.

The community made this happen. You guys are the best, and I am eternally grateful for this group of unarguably insane explorers.

 

[certhas]

I've said on a few occasions, not least in last weeks newsletter, that the sight-seeing tour is coming to an end on DW, and stages 4 and 5 will have a completely different vibe to them. I'll be blunt, they are not going to be fun for a lot of players and fleet attrition will be at its peak in the coming two or three weeks.

tbh im happy for the big gaps that will come now, finally i can sheer out of course again to do some serious mapping.
i just hope the schedule isnt to tight, i never will miss to scan an ELW even if i have to fly 400KLs
(and yeah, i dont really feel like i have left the bubble, im not much on discord but i do enjoy the talking with commanders at the waypoints - or if some were a bit more talkative *hinthint* also in-between )

 

[AcademicDust894]

As an XB1 player reaching Beagle point today was some what a anti-climax. Most who signed up never even left the bubble, some turned back at Sag A* leaving about 7 of us. With timezones it ended up with the four of us who have made it so far all arriving on our own.
The first two Cmdr's did manage to get a meet up a day or two later. The third Cmdr is waiting at Beagle for me, so we can grab a few screenshots together.
All said & done with the P**s poor turn out it's been a fantastic journey that has given me the most stunning visuals I have ever seen in any game in the 38 years of gaming. I have loved Distant Worlds & A Massive Thanks to all who got this together.

To Mr Braben Thank You for following your dream. I didn't think three decades later I would still be enjoying your imagination.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

As an XB1 player reaching Beagle point today was some what a anti-climax. Most who signed up never even left the bubble, some turned back at Sag A* leaving about 7 of us. With timezones it ended up with the four of us who have made it so far all arriving on our own.
The first two Cmdr's did manage to get a meet up a day or two later. The third Cmdr is waiting at Beagle for me, so we can grab a few screenshots together.
All said & done with the P**s poor turn out it's been a fantastic journey that has given me the most stunning visuals I have ever seen in any game in the 38 years of gaming. I have loved Distant Worlds & A Massive Thanks to all who got this together.

To Mr Braben Thank You for following your dream. I didn't think three decades later I would still be enjoying your imagination.

If possible can you let me know which of the X-Box fleet actually completed the journey?

 

[Kuroshio]

If possible can you let me know which of the X-Box fleet actually completed the journey?

Me too, of possible. (With ship type & paint job would be even better.)

 

[tjs247]

Its a great feeling

Couldn't have said it better myself

I've said on a few occasions, not least in last weeks newsletter, that the sight-seeing tour is coming to an end on DW, and stages 4 and 5 will have a completely different vibe to them. I'll be blunt, they are not going to be fun for a lot of players and fleet attrition will be at its peak in the coming two or three weeks. These final two stages are about commitment and endurance more than anything, and when you consider we're only around halfway to our goal when we reach the Magnus nebula this weekend, it begins to dawn on us how vast this journey is.

But like you say, its also a profound moment for those that stick it out. There's 1.4 million people who play ED, and less than 100 have ventured out to Beagle Point - that right there puts things into perspective and should give an insight on what a unique challenge players have signed up for.

For me the most profound moment was getting across the Abyss and travelling along the outer galactic rim toward the then unknown Beagle Point, and the latter part of Distant Worlds has been structured to try and recapture that sense of remoteness in the void that a lot of us felt the first time we did it. For example, our last two waypoints - the Sublustris Beacon and Beagle Point - are a daunting 10,000 LYs apart - deliberately so, as any fleet members left by then will have a lone trek through 10,000 light years of the Solitude Void - something that should be done alone imho, just to give that sense of remoteness you can't really get anywhere else in the galaxy.

Its a tough trip, but those who make it to the bitter end will have achieved something very few have.

your absolutely right, i have hanged around with the DWE for a few way points (not an official member of the expedition) before deciding to push forward to beagle point. The abyss is quite frustrating but I arrived at beagle point yesterday and going to stay here another day or so before heading back. I must say, the feeling of accomplishment knowing that I have done something that not many players have done and looking at the galaxy map seeing how far I have come, its a great feeling its really hit me quite emotionally, I never even thought I would ever do this journey but I'm glad I have!. I am very proud of myself!

 

[AcademicDust894]

If possible can you let me know which of the X-Box fleet actually completed the journey?

Me too, of possible. (With ship type & paint job would be even better.)

Paint Job?? ROFL! Paint Job! raw nerve in the XB1 forum that.

Cmdr's That have completed So far in order

Cmdr GSRTrent: Anaconda
Cmdr VV33DKILLER: AspX
Cmdr AlviseVenice: AspX
Cmdr AcademicDust894: AspX